A sweet take on veggies

Wednesday

Jun 30, 2010 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2010 at 8:24 PM

Douglas Drenckpohl is out to change the way people think about vegetables. First he worked on vegetable baby foods. Then it was pureed vegetable soups, then vegetable ice cream. Now he has tested a series of recipes for vegetable cakes.

Clare Howard

Douglas Drenckpohl is out to change the way people think about vegetables. First he worked on vegetable baby foods. Then it was pureed vegetable soups, then vegetable ice cream. Now he has tested a series of recipes for vegetable cakes.

But just to be clear, Drenckpohl is not interested in tricking people into eating vegetables. His goal is to change attitudes about vegetables by providing people with an unexpectedly pleasant encounter with a food they vowed to hate - even if they have never tasted it.

Drenckpohl, neonatal dietitian at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill., recounts example after example with his nephews. They claim to hate eggplant, but they've never tasted it. They spurn squash, but they won't sample it.

"The purpose of butternut squash cake is once again to get kids to eat a vegetable they think they don't like," he said. "Squash makes a delicious, moist cake. Zucchini does well in a cake."

"I tried cucumber, but it didn't do well. The cake was tasteless ... like a sponge cake that looked like focaccia bread," he said.

Drenckpohl usually takes his inventions to work for his critical feedback.

"There are people at work who say 'I don't eat squash.' But I added spices to the butternut squash cake, and if you don't tell them what's in it, they like it," he said.

Recently, he invited colleagues to his home to critique the final version of his butternut squash cake.

After her first forkful, Catherine Schneider, a nurse in the OSF neonatal intensive care unit, said, "Most people wouldn't know this cake isn't carrot cake. It's wonderful, but I like every vegetable in the world."

Laura Boyer, also a nurse in the OSF neonatal intensive care unit, liked the squash cake but may prefer Drenckpohl's chocolate orange beet cake, which he took to work for a critical assessment.

Drenckpohl said some nurses at work had never eaten a beet before and claimed they never would. However, their experience with chocolate orange beet cake was positive, and they said they're more inclined to try beets in the future.

"Most of these recipes are for cakes made from scratch, but I developed one recipe for people who don't have time and use box cake mixes," he said.

While the goal is to change attitudes, there are immediate nutritional advantages to vegetable cakes.

"It's extremely critical to get children to overcome an objection to vegetables," Schneider said. "When a cake is baked with vegetables inside, the vegetables retain vitamins. You can take vitamin pills all day long, but they are not as good as food with vitamins.

"From a psychological view, these cakes open your eyes to vegetables."

She said vitamins in food are readily absorbed, but only about 30 percent of vitamins in pill form are absorbed.

Boyer said, "Some people think it's OK to eat poorly if they take vitamins. That's not true."

Does Drenckpohl ever have failures?

"Well, yes. The turnip cake was too strong. I mixed in mashed potato flakes and that sweetened it," he said. "A cake with beets, cauliflower or turnips needs to have a little citrus added to counter the earthiness or else it will have an after taste."

Nutritionally, frozen vegetables are similar to fresh. With both frozen and fresh, care should be taken not to overcook. Canned vegetables often have sodium added. However, Drenckpohl cautions against canned or frozen vegetables in cake recipes, recommending only fresh vegetables.

"We've become so busy that convenient food is the way many people eat. But cafeteria-style steamed, soggy vegetables are why people think they don't like vegetables," Drenckpohl said. "Fast food is not a culinary experience. Fast food is not even an eating experience. It's something to fill you up and keep the kids quiet."

He has started experimenting with powdered spinach and powdered beets in cake recipes. He orders his vegetable powders from The Barry Farm in Wapakoneta, Ohio, through the website www.barryfarm.com.

The best advice for parents is to introduce vegetables to children early.

"Introduce diverse vegetables when children are young. I have friends whose children have very restrictive likes and dislikes. That becomes harder to overcome as they get older," Schneider said.

She substitutes applesauce for half the oil called for in her favorite carrot cake recipe.

Boyer said, "We are really blessed to have Douglas to work with. He's really passionate about what he does. How many people work with a colleague who bakes delicious cakes with cauliflower in them?"

In a mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients. Mix together. Add vegetable oil. Stir. Beat in one egg at a time until thoroughly mixed together. In a food processor, finely chop walnuts. Place in batter and mix.

Peel and remove seeds from butternut squash. Use food processor to shred butternut squash. Place in batter and mix. (One butternut squash is more quantity than this recipe calls for. Please only shred enough butternut squash for this recipe).

Peel and chop two fresh sweet potatoes. Place in pan. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook until sweet potatoes are soft. Drain water. Puree in a food processor, then set aside the puree and allow to cool.

Place all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Mix together. Add vegetable oil. Mix together. Add one egg at a time until each is blended into the mixture. Add sweet potato puree. Mix. Add vanilla and mix.

In a saucepan, add 3-4 fresh beets with skin intact. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook beets about 15-20 minutes. Drain water. Allow beets to cool. Peel. Puree beets in a food processor, then set aside and let cool.